Autumn Joy is one of the best Sedums you can grow! I have had people ask me what kind of "Shrub" it is. When autumn arrives, it truly is a joy for nectar loving insects. Over the years I have found that over fertilizing them will make the plant too "leggy". The Sedum doesn't care, it still blooms, but it tends to fall over. Sedum is called "Live Forever" because it is tough.

When my Autumn Joys start to fall, I know it is time to divide them. Dig them out and whack them up! They can handle it. I have tried to pinch them back during the growing season and have had good luck with it. Treat them like Mums. Pinch them back untill the 4th of July. That mught help keep them from falling down. Usually by the 4th, mine are already showing signs of falling.

Try severly trimming them. you can't hurt the plant. It takes a skilled "Black Thumb" to kill a sedum! The best thing about trimming them is, you get thousands of new plants!

Just remember, Sedums are very forgiving plants. They are the "Dogs" of the plant world. You can treat them poorly, but they will still love you! They are all beautiful and you might be suprised how many varieties of sedum there are. Few plants can compete with sedums when it comes to the varieties. Sun, shade, wet, dry. Sedum is always an option! By now you know that I am a fan of the plants. They truly are wonderful!

You will not hurt Autumn Joy sedums and its cousins. They are truly "Live Forevers"!

Good Luck!

Del

Last spring I decided to try something new with my Autumn Joy.  I bought several grow-thru-grids, one of which I used for the Autumn Joy, the others I used for my large bleeding hearts, and one for the largest of my hellebores.  They were all successes.  The Autumn Joy I have is very large and will be divided this winter [and is already spoken for].  The grid did the best of all supports I have used on the large sedums.  I highly recommend using it.  As for letting last year's growth remain....well, in the wet NW it would just rot away above ground.

To those new to this plant, I advise you to take a look at the stems before you toss them.  Many of the stems have little tiny new plants at the leaf junctions.  I have tried both of the following and have had excellent results.  The entire stem can be cutt off and planted with new little plants to emerge come spring.  OR, I have also cut them into individual segments and these have also grown.  These are "free" plants and if wintered over in the ground, will bloom the next summer.  Yup, have 2 in my greenhouse now in bloom that I put in the ground last fall.  They are going to a dear friend who has had a rough time of finances lately and they will add beauty to their garden.  Their 5 yo grandbaby helps with gardening and will be fun for them to follow together.  So, share them among your friends.  They can be put in pots come spring for those plant sales.  The arboretum in Seattle has a fund raiser every spring and were very happy to get a couple plants last spring which I started this way. 

Personally, I find I prefer the blooms of the Matrona to the Autumn Joy.  The bees and native pollinators do enjoy the large sedums.  Without those little helpers, we would have very few plants in our gardens.  The Matrona was more popular with the largest of the native bumble bees.  The AJ was much later to bloom while the other large sedums I have were finishing up at the time the M was just opening.  By the time AJ was open, the cosmos were in full swing and the bees were more attracted to the multiple plants I had of the cosmos.